The Last Word (and Gold) to Italy

PRAGELATO, Italy, Feb. 26 - The colors of Italy's flag streaked across the sky. The horde of Italian fans lingered, savoring one last moment of Olympic triumph.

In the middle of it all was Giorgio di Centa, who won the last possible gold medal for the host country Sunday in the Winter Games' final cross-country ski race. Di Centa beamed as he worked his way through the celebration, surrounded by eight police officers in an escort fit for a president.

Di Centa used a powerful sprint through the final stretch of the 50-kilometer skate for Italy's first individual gold in cross-country skiing in 38 years. After his victory, sporting the Italian flag around his neck, di Centa was asked to describe his race.

"Kilometer by kilometer?" he said with a grin.

The 33-year-old di Centa finished in 2 hours 6 minutes 11.8 seconds, only eight-tenths of a second ahead of the silver medalist, Yevgeni Dementiev of Russia -- a wild ending to the longest and most grueling cross-country competition.

Carl Swenson, an American, did not finish. He started despite being slowed by a head cold. He trained Saturday and decided to race on Sunday in his third and final Olympics. Andrew Johnson was the top American, finishing 34th.